Thursday, December 31, 2009

G-Momo: We had such a fun day today. Guffaw had breakfast with Sarah and they looked at Daddy’s pictures on Facebook. She especially liked the pictures with Mommy and Daddy in them.

After a quick trip to an escrow company we went to the Kieler’s and then toured a “tall ship” down in Newport. Sarah liked looking out at the water from the boat. Then Sarah, G-Momo, Amber, Nik and Clare went to South Coast Plaza. We had carousel coupons from the tree lighting, a pass to the VIP lounge, and Clare had an Abercrombie gift certificate. When we walked into the mall Sarah squealed with delight at the sight of the merry-go-round. Amber, Nik and Clare rode with her. Then we headed to the VIP lounge, which was interesting. It has a lounge with a host who brings beverages, pretzels, and candy. It has a conference room for businessmen, 2 other rooms, and a nice restroom. I didn’t even know it was there. I don’t think I’d use it much, but if I entertained clients like Mike does it could be useful.

From there Amber, Nik and Clare set out to Abercrombie and I took Sarah to get some lunch. She wanted to go where the elephants are, the Rainforest Café. When we got there Sarah started looking for Mommy. She had just seen a photo of Mommy with an elephant this morning. I told her Mommy is in Africa, and she said “Africa” and went on to color. She kept asking for Steve, but he wasn’t there so we looked at his picture on my phone, sticking his tongue out, and Sarah would imitate the position of his tongue. Funny girl. She got mac & cheese but she preferred my salad, especially the olives. I looked away and she ran mac & cheese through her hair. Funny girl again. Amber, Nik and Clare came back and we cleaned her up as best we could with wipes. Amber took her for one last ride on the merry-go-round and Nik and Clare went to a store while I paid the check.

The next part requires some background. Saturday Amber played softball. She dived for a ball in the outfield that took a bad bounce and hit her in the mouth, causing nasty bleeding and bruising and a puncture from her tooth. It’s a little infected and very painful. Anyhow, she came back to the Rainforest Café and we were walking out to find Nik and Clare so we could leave, and Sarah head butted her in the sore lip. Without a word, she handed Sarah to me and ran off to the bathroom. She didn’t come back immediately so we followed her. In the light of the bathroom the mac & cheese we missed on Sarah’s face and hair was pretty obvious, so I set Sarah down on the counter to wash her off. She swung her feet into a sink that had a motion sensor. Amber alerted me and I grabbed her before the water came on. Then my phone rang and I was digging through my backpack for it, backing into the automatic had dryers that began blowing down my pants. We were all three laughing at this slapstick delight, even poor sore Amber.

We returned home for the New Years Eve festivities. I was going to play it by ear according to her mood as to whether she would stay up until midnight, but she fell asleep in the high chair at about 8:30. I took her up, put on her nighttime diaper and pj’s and put her down. About 10 minutes later Steve bought her down, wide awake with a messy diaper. I changed her again and she played for a little while, including sitting on Richard’s lap for the first time ever. She ended up going down pretty close to bedtime. When midnight came and everyone pounded on pots and pans, it didn’t wake her. Steve was very cute, poised at the bottom of the stairs in case she woke up, but she was out. Happy New Year!

Guffaw Bonus Material:
As I have previously mentioned, Sarah has a favorite bib. It is a tiny baby bib that says "I’m a sloppy kisser" and it has a dog with his tongue sticking out. She asks for it by sticking her tongue out and panting. However, it is so small it provides little protection for her clothes. Sarah has a nice big toddler bib that is plastic with a pocket in front that catches liquids and it also has dogs on it, but their tongues are not hanging out so Sarah does not like it as well. She always politely says no when offered the bigger bib and then asks for the other bib by pointing, extending her tongue and panting. This morning Guffaw decided to try to protect Sarah’s sleepers at breakfast by putting on both bibs, the little one she likes on top of the bigger more protective one. Sarah did not protest so Guffaw smugly went into the kitchen to rinse Sarah’s berries, pleased he had outsmarted Sarah into allowing the bigger bib. A moment later Guffaw returned to the dining room with Sarah’s berries for her "zero" cereal and found her sweetly waiting in her high chair, with the large plastic bib on the floor and the tiny panting dog bib still around her angelic neck.

When Sarah awoke, Guffaw came in to get Sarah from bed and giver her breakfast. Sarah was pleased to be picked up but she also asked for G-Momo. Guffaw told Sarah G-Momo was asleep and did the sign for asleep. Sarah said Steve’s name and Guffaw told her Steve was still asleep and did the sign for asleep. We came downstairs and saw Nik and Clare asleep on the living room furniture. Sarah said their names and Guffaw said they were asleep and did the sign for asleep. Sarah then said Guffaw, and Guffaw said "Guffaw is awake!" and acted very animated. That struck Sarah as amusing so, as we ate breakfast, Sarah did an inventory of practically everybody in the house and every family member in Africa, saying their name. Guffaw told her whether each person was asleep or awake. This may not sound like much of a game, perhaps, but Sarah found it fun and amusing her is the fun part.

Amber had the day off and wanted to get herself a doughnut for breakfast. Amber returned just as Sarah was finishing her second helping of cereal and berries. Amber had also brought Sarah a breakfast dessert, a cake doughnut with sprinkles. Sarah enjoyed eating her doughnut. After all, as she and Amber both noted, the doughnut was a big "zero."

After breakfast, Guffaw showed Sarah the Africa pictures. Sarah was interested by most of the pictures. (She was not that excited by the ones with scenery, only, without animals or people.) She liked the animal pictures, but she was more enthusiastic about pictures of Daddy and Mommy.

When Guffaw got home from work, Sarah wanted to go to the park to swing. Sarah took Guffaw’s finger as she left the front porch steps and walked holding hands with Guffaw for the start of the trip instead of being carried or pushed on her bike. What made this cute was that Sarah initiated the hand holding, instead of being prompted to hold hands when crossing a street. After about 75 yards she then asked Guffaw to carry her. As always, Sarah and Guffaw played a wide variety of games on the walk. Guffaw "flies" her, helps her jump on fire hydrants and other things along the way, and plays alphabet and word games. She was also happy to see a couple of helicopters fly overhead.

After swinging at Mile Square Park for only about ten minutes, Sarah decided she wanted to go back home. She didn’t even walk over to the slides. That is an unusually short time for her to spend at the park. However, she kept saying she wanted Uncle "Teve" to play with the helicopter he gave her for Christmas.

Sarah enjoyed the finger food appetizers prepared for our New Year’s eve feast, especially bagel bites. She practically fell asleep in her high chair. Then, while G-Momo did her night-night routine she asked Guffaw to bring Sarah’s pacifier upstairs. Guffaw brought a container with two pacifiers up and gave Sarah the first one, which was blue. She took it for a second and then gave it back and politely said "yellow." The other pacifier in the container was yellow. When the exchange was finished, Sarah was ready for bed. She does have opinions and preferences.
　

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

It was raining today, and Sarah loved it. She smiled whenever she went outside, leaning back and letting the rain fall on her face. She even went to the park with Uncle Steve and went “swinging in the rain.”

Sarah was starting to miss her crib. Last night she stood by the door in her pj’s giving the car sign and wanting to go bye bye. I decided to take her to visit her home. She played with her toys, ate cheese and a hot dog, and took a long nap in her own bed. Our trips to the apartment are very refreshing for her. I had to wake her up after a 2 hour nap to show a house. Amber was trying to get over there to watch her, but she hit traffic on the way back from a doctor appt. and I was running late. Then we came back home and Sarah played with Amber, Steve, and Clare while G-Momo caught a much needed nap before sibling dinner.

Guffaw's Bonus Material: This entry is shorter than others because Guffaw had to work until almost time for the annual "sibling dinner" celebrating the December birthdays of Mark, Marci and Mort and Aunt Amber was good about getting Sarah to sleep by her bedtime, so Guffaw didn’t get as much Sarah time as he’d like.

Guffaw and Sarah seem to have settled into a breakfast routine with the "zero" cereal, berries (Sarah seems to prefer blueberries), baby doggie bib and the stuffed Elmo praying with us. Guffaw suggested eggs, but Sarah politely expressed her preference for "zero" cereal and berries.

Sarah sees resemblances. She often points to a picture of a young Grandma Jan on the stair landing and says: "Momo," validating the "clone" jokes the Tubbiolas make about Mary looking and acting like her mother. This morning Sarah also pointed at a baby picture we have of Lisa above our dining room table and said "Sarah."

Two quick things relating to Sarah and the cousins: First, Sarah is amused by, and envious of, Aidan and Clare’s ability to touch their tongue to their nose. She smiles when she sees it and tries to imitate them but she is not able to reach, although she attempts to aid herself by using her hand to pull her tongue up that direction.

Second, Nik reported that while we were away at the sibling dinner Sarah repeatedly came to where they were gathered and would point at each of them and identify: "Bailey, Aidan, Nik, Clare and Miley."

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Sarah had breakfast with Guffaw, and then she had a park morning with Uncle Steve. She chased ducks and stood her ground when a goose taller than her got aggressive, but Uncle Steve felt danger and picked her up as she was going face to face with the goose. Sarah was very talkative today, and chattered through most of our activities. We ran some errands including a trip to Sam’s Club. She took 2 naps today, one at the park with Steve and one later in the afternoon. It’s late, and Guffaw has some notes so I’ll be short today.

Guffaw’s Bonus Material:
Today Guffaw got to breakfast with Sarah again. When Guffaw tried to put any bib other than the baby bib with the dog wagging his tongue on Sarah she said no and then pleaded for her favorite by sticking her tongue out and panting like a dog. She’s so cute Guffaw can’t resist.

As breakfast began, Guffaw pulled up Sarah’s sleeve on the hand she was holding her spoon in. Sarah looked at Guffaw like “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Sarah then stuck out her other arm so Guffaw could roll up that sleeve, too.

Sarah likes eating the cereal Guffaw eats since it has “zeros” in it. Sarah eats her “zero” cereal with milk and berries, just like Guffaw eats his. Today we started with, but ran out of, blueberries so Guffaw cut up some cherries for Sarah. She liked them but she apparently prefers the blue berries, since she noticed Guffaw still had blueberries in his cereal and asked for some of his.

Sarah brought her stuffed Elmo (a Christmas gift from great-uncle Mark) to her high chair for breakfast. When she and Guffaw prayed, Sarah folded Elmo’s hands, too.

Sarah has taken to hiding in the drapes in the dining room next to her toy kitchen. She gives herself giggling when you ask “where is Sarah?”

Sarah asked for juice and while the refrigerator door was open she saw three containers in the bottom of the door. The first was a bottle of Fruit 2-0. She picked that up and said “Faw,” which is short for Guffaw, and that was right since that is her Guffaw’s preferred drink. Next to that was a plastic bottle of tea, which her G-Momo drinks. Sarah lifted that up and said “Momo.”
Sarah then picked up the plastic Hershey’s chocolate syrup bottle and said “‘Teve!”

After Guffaw told Steve that, Steve went out for a jog. ;-)

Sarah again took her ping pong ball that she keeps in the egg carton in her toy kitchen out and tapped it gently on the stove counter, presumably to crack its shell. Sarah then put the “egg” (ball) in her toy skillet. However, tonight she decided the egg needed a little something more, so she went to our pantry, opened it, took out a few spice bottles and shook them over her toy skillet. She then brought the skillet back to the toy stove to finish cooking.

Tonight Guffaw did Sarah’s night-night routine. Guffaw tried, but Sarah does not yet have the attention span to listen to “Grandpa Dropped His Glasses.”

Monday, December 28, 2009

G-Momo: G-Momo was having a challenging day, but Sarah was in good spirits and made it easier to take. The house phone buzz got worse so the phone company was out, our furnace wasn’t coming on so the furnace guy came out, the “check engine” light came on in my car, then I locked my keys in the car at the beach, and while I was waiting for Amber with the key at Ruby’s, my Droid died. It was one of those days that you just had to laugh whenever something else went wrong, but God blesses. The phone guy thought he had it fixed, but the buzz is back even worse. The furnace guy not only replaced the thermostat, he fixed Sarah’s kitchen where Guffaw didn’t know his own strength and broke off a screw during assembly. The check engine light was a false alarm. Sarah, Clare and I saw a beautiful sunset (and a helicopter) while waiting for Amber, and Clare and Sarah bonded over fries and peanut butter shakes. Pretty nice.

Sarah does so many cute things, I really need to take notes during the day.
While lunching at Don Joses with the McCarty’s, Kieler boys, GG, GGB, Steve and Amber, Sarah was writing on a napkin. I wrote an “S” and an “A” and started talking to Richard. I looked over, and Sarah had written an “A” under the “A”. It might have been a random scribble, but Richard was impressed.

Uncle Steve helped Sarah brush her teeth before bed, and G Momo finished the routine. She was tired and went down easily.

Guffaw’s Bonus Material:
Guffaw had a court appearance in L.A. so he missed breakfast with Sarah. When Guffaw got home Sarah was even more bright and giggly than the day before. She was, perhaps, fueled by the Ruby’s peanut butter shake she drank with G-Momo. Guffaw cooked ham & dumplings.

While Guffaw was preparing supper, Sarah helped throw away each empty biscuit dough container. She seemed to like dinner, the dumplings more than the ham.

Sarah is getting better at saying Africa. After she says “Africa” she frequently says “Mommy” and “Daddy.”

She and Clare were playing frequently today. Clare was throwing a blanket on top of Sarah and the fearless Sarah walked with the blanket on her head like a ghost for a few steps before removing it.

Steve tried to show her the numbers video in G-Momo and Guffaw’s room (near her bean bag chair “spot”) but had trouble figuring out how to get the DVD to play. After trying to get the DVD to play for about ten minutes he gave up and gave Sarah the remote. To Steve’s amazement, in less than a minute, Sarah had the DVD playing her video.

Guffaw gave Sarah her bottle, but she insisted on being within eye sight of Steve while taking it.
When Sarah was getting ready for bed, we allowed her to choose from among various sets of pajamas. She chose the one with the owls on it. She said “owl” and “who” but the clincher was that the “owl” pajamas had a “zero” on them.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

G-Momo: Sarah had “zero” cereal, berries and milk for breakfast, and put on her pretty Christmas dress for church. She also wanted to wear the necklaces we got at the Pirate Show when we went with the McCarty’s. She has collected 3—green, silver and gold. She has a strong preference for the silver and gold. When she walked into church she spotted Gracie immediately. Sarah danced to the praise music, to the delight of the old ladies that sit at the back of the church. Eventually Sarah, Gracie, G-Momo and Gracie’s Aunt Angela took the girls to the playground and they played and shared Sarah’s Bees.

After church Sarah, Guffaw, G-Momo, Grandma Melba & “Jack” went to Chili’s. Elmo went too. Sarah held Elmo’s hands and “jumped” him along the sidewalk like Guffaw does with her on the way to the park. Elmo was happy and he knew it. Sarah and Elmo had broccoli and a corn dog for lunch. Both Sarah and Elmo stuck their finger into the corn dog. After lunch Grandma Melba and “Jack” came over to watch Flash Forward, and Mommy and Daddy Skyped. Then Sarah and Steve crashed the helicopter for awhile, and now Sarah and Guffaw are on their way to the park. I suspect she’ll fall asleep, since it’s 4:30 pm and she’s had no nap, but seeing Daddy and Mommy was energizing.

Guffaw’s bonus material: Lots today, since Sarah is feeling well and full of energy. Sarah really seemed to get a kick out of the fact she and Guffaw were having the same things for breakfast. When she ran out of “zero” cereal and wanted more she urged Guffaw to put more in his bowl, too.

While at Chili’s Sarah had left Elmo in the car and asked for him. We finished our soup and were waiting for our entrees so Mary suggested Guffaw take Sarah for a short walk to the car to get Elmo. While walking to the car, Guffaw saw a car with a rooster painted on the back window. Guffaw pointed to the back of the car and asked Sarah: “What is that?” Sarah, no ordinary 17 month-old, said “S!” She was right, the car’s logo on the back had an “S” in it.

Sarah asked to see one of her videos. Since Mama had told Guffaw that Sarah is supposed to sit on her spot while watching videos, Guffaw had set up a bean bag chair, like at Sarah’s apartment. The day before we had done the same thing and Guffaw had referred to that bean bag as Sarah’s spot. Today, Sarah walked over to the bean bag chair and pointed at it and said “spot.”

Guffaw took Sarah to Nieblas park for variety’s sake. She has quite a sense of direction. She pointed towards Mile Square Park as if Guffaw needed help with directions. We played the recite the ABC game again and Sarah again substituted words for some of the same letters. We also played the “say the word game” where Guffaw says a word and Sarah repeats it. Sarah sounds cute when she says “Africa!” There was a space shuttle toy at the park that Sarah enjoyed riding. (It works like a rocking horse.) We are sending you an e-mail picture of that. She also had a routine. Sarah would slide down, feet first each slide, and then call for “Faw” to follow her. Your Mom was right, Sarah was napping before the car left the park on the way home. (G-Momo drove to the park and joined us.)

The McCartys were gone, so we had a relatively quiet house when we returned from the park and Sarah awoke from her nap. Sarah apparently missed some of the activity, since she pulled the Wii balance board out and stood on it, trying to turn on the Wii with the Wii remote.

Sarah also was cooking breakfast on her stove, taking a ping pong ball out of the egg carton in the toy fridge and then tapping it on the side of the stove as if to break the shell and then putting it in a skillet.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

G-Momo: Sarah slept soundly until 11:30 am, and, praise God, woke up feeling better. I gave her a dose of Tylenol and we went to Fu Wing Low. Kenny gave her a tin of cookies for Christmas. She ate well. She still looked a little glazed around the eyes, but her demeanor was happy. After lunch she and Steve crashed the helicopter and she laughed at that. Playing Wii with Amber had her laughing hard. She liked it when soccer balls flew at her. Her tiny toy Elmo became her friend everywhere, sharing food at every meal and sharing her pacifier at bedtime.

In the evening she got a little homesick. An airplane flew over and she waved at Daddy, then Mommy, then Nana, Bethany and Papa. She was doing the car sign and wanting to go bye bye, so we visited the apartment for awhile. She was very excited when she saw the “zero” at Beach and McFadden. She showed us her toys, her dog book, and where Mommy and Daddy sleep. She had a nasty messy diaper. Eventually she went to the door, said “Steve,” and she was ready to go. When we got home she had another nasty messy diaper, and her coloring improved a lot. She was her old self again. It was as if she purged the last of whatever was making her sick. G-Momo did the night night routine and she went down easily.

Guffaw’s bonus material: Sarah was feeling well enough that she wanted to ride her bike to Fu Wing Low, so we put on her helmet. She was cute in her helmet and she especially liked squeezing her new horn. About 2/3 of the way there she decided she was done riding the bike and wanted Guffaw to carry her. Fortunately, we were ahead of G-Momo, who drove by and saw Guffaw trying to carry Sarah and push the bike. She stopped and we put the bike in the back of the van and walked the rest of the way. While walking Sarah and Guffaw recited her alphabet. Guffaw said a letter and Sarah generally repeated it. However, on a few letters Guffaw said a letter and Sarah substituted a word she associates with that letter on her own. (E.g., when Guffaw said “D” Sarah said “Daddy.” When Guffaw said “E” Sarah substituted “Ellie.” Similarly, “M” became “Mama,” “N” became “Nana” and “P” became “Papa.”) When Sarah awoke from her nap she saw her thermometer within reach and put it in her ear. She then looked at the readout and correctly read aloud 9. (Her last temperature had been 99 and had not been cleared.) At her house, Sarah had fun showing G-Momo her box. Sarah even got G-Momo to crawl into the box with her.

Friday, December 25, 2009

G-Momo: It’s Christmas! Happy birthday Jesus. Sarah woke up cheerful, but still running a temperature. I gave her more fever reducer. She had a banana for breakfast but refused yogurt. Sarah got a kitchen from G-Momo and Guffaw. She likes the phone and the numbers on it. She laughed at the mechanical dog toy from Auntie Amber, and the helicopter from Uncle Steve scared her at first but she laughs when it crashes. She did a lot of cute and funny things. She wanted to go to the park, and she stood by the door signing for her hat and saying “Please.” Then she put on the Santa hat and pointed at the door. “Please.” We told her “not now, maybe later” and finished the Christmas morning traditions.

Sarah put her sippy cup full of juice into her toy refrigerator and went off to play. G-Momo put the juice in the real refrigerator. A little while later Sarah came back to her toy refrigerator for her juice, and it wasn’t there. She had put it in there with purpose.

Sarah took a couple of naps on Christmas, and she did her night night routine with Guffaw. She went down without a fuss. I checked on her when her fever reducer meds were supposed to wear off, and she had a 104.0 temp. I gave her more medicine and called the on call nurse at Kaiser, Marsha. I also paged the metabolic doctor just to be on the safe side. Coincidentally, Dr. Mardach is in Africa, too. I spoke to Dr. Tiller, who checked her chart and told me to keep doing what I was doing and watch for the warning signs. He was very nice, and spent a good amount of time on the phone with me evaluating Sarah’s condition and prior test results. I’m praying she feels better tomorrow. Her spirits are good though, especially since she’s sick and her routine is disrupted.

Guffaw’s bonus material: Sarah is so good natured that it was hard to tell she was sick. She was cute and adorable, but with a little less energy, so when her temperature spiked it caught us by surprise. She remains clever. While I had her on the counter to brush her teeth she saw a towel hook that came off the wall. (We had just put it there until we got replacement screws.) She found the four old screws that go to it and proceeded to insert the screws into the holes in the hook.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

G-Momo: I’m keeping this journal so Sarah’s mommy and daddy will have a record of her days while they are in Africa. This afternoon I dropped the Stephenses 5 off at the airport. Sarah knew this was no ordinary playdate with G-Momo. As Mommy and Daddy walked towards the terminal Sarah started to get upset, and twice asked for Mommy. We watched a plane take off and waved goodbye. I told her Mommy and Daddy were going on a trip and would come back after they visited Uncle Caleb and Aunt Rachel. She asked “Nana?” I said she was going on the airplane too. She asked “Papa?” I told her he was going on the airplane too. She asked “Steve?” I said Steve was waiting at my house to play with her. She asked “Amber?” I told her Amber was at my house too. She laughed like Guffaw. I told her Guffaw and G-Momo would take care of her until Mommy and Daddy came home. She pointed at the radio and asked for “lalala”. Then we danced in our seats.

When we got home, Amber gave Sarah a bath and got her ready for Christmas Eve at GG’s church. They were playing with a cup in the tub, and Sarah was laughing and having fun. We went to GG’s for dinner, and Sarah ate well. Then we went to church. Sarah went with Auntie Amber to the nursery and colored a picture. She looked adorable in her Christmas outfit.

When we got back to Tubbiola Christmas Eve, Sarah wasn’t feeling very well. She asked for Mommy, and I told her Mommy went to Africa but I would take care of her. She put her head down on my shoulder and we joined the group. Guffaw took her into the den and she fell asleep without opening her presents.

Sarah woke up about an hour later and opened her presents. She got a Leap Frog ABC toy from GG and GGB that was a huge hit. Uncle Mark got her an Elmo set that’s also a favorite. Marci gave her Curious George books and an apron Nik made when he was younger for her to use in her kitchen. Aunt Rose and Uncle Tom gave her money. The McCarty’s gave her clothes. She impressed GGB by identifying letters on her toy.

When we got home Sarah’s temperature was 102.1. I gave her the fever reducer from the diaper bag and put her to bed.

Guffaw’s bonus material: The game with the cup in the tub was Amber filling it with air and then letting it bubble out of the cup, to uproarious laughter by Sarah. She tried to duplicate it but she didn’t quite get enough air in the cup each time. At Christmas Eve dinner, Guffaw took her through the line and asked what she wanted to eat. She emphatically said no to the corn and green bean casserole. However, she stood at the coffee table to eat, between G-Momo and Guffaw and the corn on G-Momo’s plate must have looked tastier than in the serving dish, because Sarah ate lots of G-Momo’s corn.

Africa

Daddy: The whole morning of the day we were leaving for Africa, you would say "Bye" whenever I left the room. We had explained to you that we were going to be leaving to visit Uncle Caleb and Aunt Rachel in Africa and that we'd be gone for two whole weeks, a really long time, but you seemed to be understanding, as much as you could for 17 months old. "Africa" ... "airplane" ... "Bye" ... "gMomo" ... "'faw" ... you kept putting them all together like you knew what was happening. We're gonna miss you, Sweetie! :)

Zero!

Mommy: We were in the car, stopped at an intersection. You were pointing through the front window towards something and repeating the same word with "row" at the end. I was trying to understand what you were saying. I realized that in the direction you were pointing was a very large billboard with "$70" written very large and you were saying, "zero."

We have watched a numbers video a few times and you recognized the number.

Bedtime Bottle - November 2009

Daddy: I followed you into your bedroom because you were ready for bed and wanted to drink your bottle. We had this ritual: I'd sit up against the bed and you'd lay your head against my chest and I'd read you a book while you drank your bottle. We were reading Goonie Bird Greene.

When you were finished drinking your bottle, you held it up to my mouth for me to drink. "Daddy." Like it was my turn to drink now. I laughed, which sent you into laughter, and I returned to reading. You put the bottle back in your mouth, then a moment later, held it up to my mouth with this cute, conniving smile. You burst into laughter, and so did I.

We must have laughed like that for 5-10 minutes, with you pretending to feed me your bottle and me giving you the "I see you" eye and both of us laughing our heads off. Mommy even said she could hear both of us and thought I was tickling you or something. But no, we were just laughing. Our little moment.

Sweep Baby

Mommy: I let you sit on the ground while you ate an apple cinnamon muffin. When you were "all done" there were many crumbs adorning the floor. "Uh-Oh." I said that it was okay and we would need to get the broom to sweep the crumbs up. I went into the kitchen to rinse and fill your sippy cup with water because you were thirsty. While at the sink my back was towards you. When I turned around to give you the drink, you were sitting on the ground by the crumbs with the little hand broom and dustpan. I was quite impressed that you understood what I said and knew to reach between the refrigerator and cabinet to get the broom and dustpan. I was also a little worried that I didn't notice/hear you get the broom and dustpan out and wondered about the amount of time my back was turned to you (not long at all).

3-Syllable Words - November 2009

You said "animal," your first 3-syllable word.

Head Butt

Mommy: We were lying down on the couch to snuggle because you said you were sleepy. You lifted your head off my chest and I asked you if you were sleepy, because I was starting to believe you were tricking me just so you could suck on your pacifier. It seemed like you were trying to put your head back down in response to my question but you accidently hit your forehead on the bone under my eyebrow. It hurt so I held my hand over my eye. I said, "Ouch!" and asked if you were ok. As I removed my hand to see if you were ok, you purposefully hit your head on the same spot of my face. It was like you were trying to figure out what happened by repeating the action. I hadn't even got a chance to see if you were ok. I had to protect myself from all proceeding attempts to head butt me.

I've begun to expect the possibility of repeating head bumps. You accidently hit your head on the doorway to our hall and began to repeatedly hit your head. You were also hitting your head with your hairbrush. It's an interesting quandry of at what point do I stop you considering that you don't seem to care that it is hurting.

Guinness - November 2009

Daddy: Mommy was making a shopping list, so I opened the fridge to see what we needed. You stood next to me and pointed at all kinds of things in the refrigerator. When you saw the 3 cans of Guinness on the top shelf, you pointed and said, "Daddy." That's right, Sweetie, those are daddy's drinks.

Library Felt Board - November 2009

Mommy: You and I were at the library for storytime, and the storyteller started putting felt-fabric shapes up on the board. When she put up clouds, you got very excited and shook your arms and showed the ASL sign for clouds. "Yup, Sarah, you're right. Those are clouds."

Wheeze or Guffaw? - November 2009

Mommy: A few months back I started noticing that you would sort of wheeze one to four times and then stop. At first I started to worry that maybe you had asthma but since it wasn't consistant I figured I shouldn't worry too much. So I just made a mental note of it.

I realized that when Guffaw's name was mentioned you made the wheezing noise once. In the car you were saying G-momo ("mo-mo") and Guffaw ("pah") and started trying to laugh like Guffaw, it was less of a wheeze and more of a guffaw.

Sliding with Daddy - Halloween 2009

Daddy: I blew it. We were in Arizona visiting Papa and Nana, and during the day we visited a harvest festival. And there was a slide. (You loved slides and would always do the sign for "slide" and "swings.") Papa was standing right next to me, egging me to let you go full speed instead of barely holding onto you. So I did...I let you slide. And you went down fast and loved it until your diapered tushy hit the carpet and the back of your head hit the slide and you cried. I tried to comfort you, but you got up right away, pushed away from me, and ran back to the ladder. You were ready to go again.

Posture Ball Potty - October 2009

You were with Mommy and Daddy at life group and walked past a posture ball chair (sans ball). It looked vaguely familiar to you, the circular hole in the middle made it look like your little throne away from home. We didn't realize what you thought until you squatted and did the "potty" sign. "Yes, Sarah, that looks like a giant potty."

Scared You - July 2009

Daddy: I remember the first time I ever scared you. We were camping at Yosemite, and we had to teach you about the fire or you might have gotten hurt. "The fire hurts. It's ouchy, Sarah." Papa and I drew a line around the fire in the dirt and showed you how close you could get without crossing the line. You were doing a pretty good job for a while, but then you starting testing the line. (I don't know where you got that personality trait from.) I was watching you closely when you turned, mesmorized, toward the fire. I let you get right to the line when I ran up behind you, grabbed you under the arms, and boomed the word "Stop!" Immediately, you shuddered and cried and sank into Daddy's arms because I scared you and because you wanted me to hold you.

Waterfalls - July 2009

You were camping in Yosemite with Mommy, Daddy, Nana, and Papa. You had been doing sign language for a month and half now, but Mommy and Daddy didn't quite understand how cool sign language actually was. We were walking through the meadow and you were in Papa's backpack and you saw the waterfall. We had never taught you the sign for waterfall, but you did the sign for water. You connected it up. You, dog, you.